Facebook recently announced that it is devoted to foster the growing tech ecosystem in India and reaffirmed its commitment to offer valuable and meaningful support to more entrepreneurs & startups through its key programs.

At the Facebook India Startup 2018 event, in a fireside chat between Shivnath Thukral, Public Policy Director, India & South Asia at Facebook and Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, discussion was held on the changing face of India’s ecosystem and if policy makers and startups were able to experience a common goal.

The chat commenced with Thukral raising some pertinent questions on the social impact of startups in India and what was the next big thing for startups in their journey from here. To which Kant replied saying, “It’s great to see Facebook associate with start-ups and provide them with a platform for further growth. India is a very active start-up ecosystem with Government focusing on its objective to expand and enhance this ecosystem. Without getting into the business aspect of it, we aim to be able to act as a catalyst to blossom the startup domain.”

Applauding today’s youth for their energy and vibrancy, Kant said that a large percentage of students graduating from IITs todays were joining startups or venturing into their own new businesses. He added, “Within the tech sector AI and Virtual Reality are widely being used by several startups today. They are using cutting edge technology to enable India to re-build technology. A lot of work is also being done in social evolution with respect to education, health and quite a bit in advertising where real innovation is needed. We are trying to push the limits of these areas and bring in growth and innovation as much as possible.”

Speaking on the common goals that can even out the playing field between policy makers and startups, Kant said that regulation would always be far behind innovation. Policy makers and regulators would find it difficult to keep abreast of the innovation and disruption happening in today’s society with upcoming start-up firms. Kant was of the opinion that it’s important for policy makers to really draft regulatory regimes, which would help stay ahead of all innovations happening today. This would require clarity, a fresh and innovative mindset to interact with startups and innovators in order to study the challenges that they are facing and help them scale up accordingly.

With moderator Thukral picking up on the key areas that can be taken back to the regulatory fraternity, Kant said, “Firstly, rules and regulations are drafted to achieve growth and progress. Quite often in bureaucracy we make rules and regulations that end in themselves. For India to expand and grow one will need to change these rules continuously with time. Secondly, for start-ups the vision should always be about penetrating the global market, while they continue to scale up their business in the domestic arena. India certainly has a large domestic market but then no country in the world has ever expanded without penetrating the global market.”

If we continue to think global while we are looking for solutions addressing 1.3 billion people in India, we could actually use the same methods and instead serve 7.5 billion in the world, thereby, moving people from poverty to middle-class in the next 10 decades, claims Amitabh Kant.

While domestic marketers might feel the need to protect their businesses from global markets, discussing the need for a balance as we facilitate global companies in the domestic market, Kant said that Global companies bring in a lot of innovation to the domestic market. Global investments bring in the best of technology, HR practices, cutting edge, new ideas & innovations for Indian companies. Once that happens there will be pressure on Indian established companies to expand and grow globally. He said, “While there are protectionism talks across the world, India has opened up FDI, pension funds, insurance funds, e-commerce, health, construction etc. to enter the domestic market largely.”

Discussing the importance of data in today’s tech savvy world, Kant opined that data belongs to individuals and is of high importance. He said, “Unlike America and China where data is owned by Facebook or Google and Alibaba respectively, in India data is a public entity. We have a very different model. In India data is owned by GST, UPI, Aadhaar. There’s massive data flow in our country. The biggest health insurance scheme in the world, Ayushman Bharat will help provide insurance to as many as 500 million people, which is bigger than the population of U.S.A, Mexico and Europe all put together. We need to find the right balance between regulation and the way the core issue of data is seen.”

When Thukral asked Kant for one key message that he would like to pass on to startups to build and innovate in India, the Niti Aayog CEO said that India’s innovative spirit must fly with energy and dynamism as start-ups continue to drive the nation. India is a nation of challenges and hence we need to drive innovation amongst us to overcome the shortcomings. Make in India for the world, is the way to go about today. Speaking on the issues that worry him, Kant said, “What bothers me about the start-up domain is ensuring that there is long-term predictability and consistency of policy with time. I don’t foresee capital shortage. Largely, Indians must invest in good start-ups in India, which will later bring growth and global dividends to our nation as well.”

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CarDekho, the flagship portal of GirnarSoft, has ventured into pre-owned cars retail market with auction model under the existing brand name ‘Gaadi’. For the same, CarDekho has acqui-hired Carbiqi, to amplify its reach into the organised used cars market. Carbiqi’s core team has joined Gaadi to strengthen the group’s potential in providing superior customer experience.

Gaadi, in the past, has played a crucial role in building a robust used cars dealer network in the country which resonates perfectly with the brand values. Gaadi will enable trustworthy and hassle-free transactions for 4 million used car sellers nationally. Gaadi inaugurated its first showroom in Delhi NCR on January 09, 2019. With 10 showrooms already operational in Delhi NCR the brand further plans to introduce 40 showrooms pan India by the end of FY2018-19. At an initial stage, Gaadi showrooms will be introduced in Delhi NCR and Bengaluru region. The brand aims to come-up with 100 + stores by the end of FY 2019-20.

Talking about the development, Amit Jain, Co-founder, and CEO, CarDekho, said, “We welcome the new team members to the family and look forward to establishing an unparalleled, trusted consumer experience in used cars retail segment with their support. India's pre-owned car market holds immense growth potential and still needs to be catered from an end-to-end perspective to unlock the full potential. Our aim is to provide an expert's assistance to our customers for selecting the right platform to sell their vehicle at the right price. Gaadi, as a brand has always resonated well with used cars business and we are happy to foray into the auction model under the same brand name.”

Gaadi is being steered by Vibhor Sahare, CEO, and co-founder along with other co-founders Akansh Sinha and Anubhav Deep. Vibhor has been part of CarDekho group since 2015 as a Chief Business Officer for the New Car Business. Also, Akansh and Anubhav (Co-founders of Carbiqi) will be fully involved in all the aspects of keeping the C2D business.

With the initiation of Gaadi showrooms, Vibhor Sahare, CEO, and Co-founder at Gaadi said, “Being a part of a bigger ecosystem at CarDekho will give the team a relevant push to amplify the reach, and achieve targeted growth. Gaadi follows the auction model where the company buys the vehicle from a consumer, and its channel partners will subsequently bid for the inventory in a competitive process. We follow a transparent process which helps our customers to get the best price for their car with minimum paperwork.”

The USP of the Gaadi is to provide hassle-free vehicle selling experience to the customers with optimum resale value for their car, Free RC transfer, Loan closure assistance, Instant money transfer and advanced car inspection at the showrooms.

Emphasising on the importance of “trust”, the same values are reflected in the launch campaign, reiterating Gaadi as a reliable source for people to sell their cars, ensuring a hassle-free document transfer, car quality and price realization aspects of a car selling process.

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Set against the backdrop of a dramatic courtroom scene, much like in some Tamil movies, the campaign captures the story of an accused waiting for his witness to arrive at his aid. Conceptualised by Ogilvy Bangalore, the campaign shows the name of the protagonist (witness), ‘Selvam’ echoed around the city dramatically. As unique characters ranging from policemen to politicians scream Selvam’s name in anticipation, we finally see Selvam haggling with a regular rickshaw driver for his ride. As the voice-over resolves Selvam’s conflict by introducing him to UberAuto, we see him happily arriving at the Court much to the relief of everyone.

The film ends with the most relieved of them all, the accused who is thankful that his witness has arrived on time.

Speaking about the campaign, Sonal Dabral, Vice Chairman India and Chief Creative Officer South and S.E. Asia, Ogilvy added, “UberAuto has brought a dramatic change to the way our audience uses auto-rickshaws by bringing them never before convenience and peace of mind. It’s therefore fitting that we are introducing this epic service to our audience with an epic story full of humour, drama, and suspense. I’m sure that our audience will enjoy this campaign as much as we enjoyed creating it.”

Commenting on this initiative, Saakshi Verma Menon, Head of Brand - Rides, India & South Asia said, "Uber’s vision is to build globally and live locally. UberAuto takes away the daily hassles of hailing an Auto by harnessing the power of technology. This campaign aims to connect with our communities, driver-partners, and riders in Chennai. Ogilvy South has been a great partner in bringing this creative idea to life in Chennai."

Adding to this, Ram Moorthi, President, Ogilvy South said, “The flavour of the relationship between an autorickshaw and it’s rider is a uniquely local one. From Ogilvy’s South office, we’ve used a South Indian flavour to help UberAuto convey its hassle-free message to its customers. Full credit to our client partners for going with our audience understanding while keeping us honest in terms of the Uber brand’s values.” As part of the campaign, Uber is also set to release Print, Outdoor, and Radio ads with the same message. The campaign went on air this week and is sure to strike a chord with the Chennai market.

No Haggling, No Hassles:

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Red Label, from HUL, has launched a series of social campaigns that aim at spreading the message of inclusivity and breaking age-old stereotypes. Over the years, the brand has touched on social issues that are kept in hushed tones with its Swad Apnepan Ka campaigns.

In 2014, they launched a campaign depicting a Muslim lady inviting a Hindu couple who had lost their house keys for tea. The commercial sent out a message for Hindu-Muslim unity. Their recent campaign, Old Friends, does not digress from this theme. The TVC brings to the forefront the issue of food preferences and the silent divide that still exists between vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

Talking about the thought behind the campaign, Shiva Krishnamurthy, Vice President, Tea & Foods, HUL, said the purpose is to make India more inclusive.

“We believe in confronting and challenging prejudices that come in the way of being more inclusive. Our latest TVC challenges one such prejudice in a light-hearted manner over a tasty cup of tea. We hope that people will love it as much as they have loved all the earlier commercials of our ongoing Swad Apnepan Ka campaign.”

The ad film, created by Ogilvy, features two aged friends having an encounter after a long time. The comrade, who is vegetarian visiting the non-veg friend, refuses to drink tea on the grounds of meat being cooked in his house. As the ad film progresses, it showcases the aroma of a warm cup of tea that diffuses the veg-non-veg difference between the two friends.

exchange4media caught up with Shiva Krishnamurthy, Vice President, Tea and Foods (HUL), to talk about the campaign in detail.

Edited excerpts of the interview:

What was the insight behind the campaign?

The insight that we got was that vegetarians are often reluctant to eat or drink from vessels that may have been used for non-vegetarian food.

How does this ad take forward your Swad Apnepan Ka campaign?

Brooke Bond Red Label’s Swad Apnepan Ka campaign is based on our firm belief that a tasty cup of tea can go a long way in dissipating tensions and can bring people together. Over the last five years, this now iconic campaign has touched upon various social tensions and has helped people question their prejudices that are often the reasons for these tensions. The vegetarian--non-vegetarian divide is a natural part of this series.

Has highlighting social causes in the communication helped the brand?

Brooke Bond Red Label has always touched upon various social issues in their ad campaigns. The brand's purpose is to help people find common ground over tea, thereby making India more inclusive. As part of living this purpose, we have touched upon various social tensions that come in the way of a more inclusive society. In the last five years that we have been on this journey, Brooke Bond Red Label has been showered with more brand love than ever before and has been rewarded with market leadership and now Brooke Bond Red Label is India’s No.1 tea brand.

Tell us about the media mix that you follow.

Brooke Bond Red Label uses TV as its lead medium, but digital is the fastest growing. We also use outdoor and print.

Finally, what are the future plans for the brand?

Brooke Bond Red Label will continue to walk the talk on its purpose of making India more inclusive.

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The closing session of Day 2 of the International Advertising Association (IAA) World Congress was addressed by Piyush Pandey, Worldwide CCO of Ogilvy who gave a new twist to the word sustainability in the world of advertising while speaking on ‘Brand Communication for social change’.

Pandey said, “Sustainability of human relationships and emotions are under threat in this digital world. Twenty years ago when I worked for a paint brand, I remember hearing - let’s make a three-bedroom house because my child needs privacy. Today, people want to keep open doors, open spaces because children are not talking with each other - they are glued to their gadgets. Human relations are not being expressed the way they should be.”

He goes on to ask if we are getting so caught up in the digital world that we have stopped caring about each other, adding that brands can make a social change, and also better human beings. He gave the example of two ads made by his agency - one for Google and the second for Amazon, proving the point that human relationships are permanent.

Pandey says, “Personal interface can never be matched by face-time. Companies like Google and Amazon are doing messaging which is beneficial to the society and the brand and there is immense value to this. I salute brands which think of helping society in some way through their ads."

Talking about the importance of relationships he gave a personal example, “I still remember one day I had gone to Jaipur and I saw there were two dals on the table and I asked my mother, why there were two. She said ‘the neighbor knows that you love their dal and they knew you were visiting, so they sent one'. Now that’s what needs to be passed on in everything that we do. That is what a brand like Brooke Bond Red Label has done through their ad - 'swaaad apnepan ka'.

Signing off he says, “Sustainability of environment is about making life go on, but sustainability of relationships is about making people enjoy the journey of life.”

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He began with an interesting proposition of ‘What if the brand could be the force for good and the force for growth’. Pritchard also emphasised on living the brand’s purpose and not just talk about it. He underlined the need for brands to align themselves with a purpose.

Pritchard spoke about the three major problems facing the business diaspora — Gender Equality, Sustainability and Technology. “Gender equality gaps are more pronounced for women with colour, the LGBT category and those with physical challenges. In the advertisement industry, 29 per cent of women are still inaccurately or negatively portrayed. People expect more from brands and they want the brand to take a stand on social issues. Nine out of 10 consumers want brands to live with their values; they want brands to take a stand.”

According to Pritchard, when it comes to sustainability there is a stark difference between what people say and do. He added that 67 per cent of the population talks about sustainability but only 30 per cent of them actually act on it. “Sustainable goals are good for the growth of the brands. Advertising affects our language and can improve the society by promoting gender equality. Brands are still portraying women inaccurately or negatively and we have to eliminate this stereotype to change attitudes and drive growth.”

Pritchard also underlined that brands can help in driving sustainable behaviour by making products that could sensitise people about it. He also spoke about how P&G has been doing its bit.

“I urge to reduce, renew and recycle water, energy and waste. It will be nice if all brands can come together. My call to action for all brands is to join to achieve this,” Pritchard added.

In his address, Pritchard also spoke about how digital has impacted advertising. “Digital has changed the face of advertising. E-commerce is growing and new brands are bypassing media networks. The pervasive data, analytics and tech is changing everything. Things like block chain, AR, VR and AI are affecting all aspects of daily life. I would like to pivot and use tech to go beyond, reinvent and see if brands can use cutting edge tech to improve everyday life.”

He also highlighted the need for security and privacy in a market environment which driven by technology. “We have to be careful of unbridled growth and of tech security and privacy. We should unite as an industry and set the standard for ethical use of machine learning. My call for action is to put standard policies in place so that tech is used for good,” Pritchard concluded.

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The 44th edition of the International Advertising Association World Congress took off in Kochi on Wednesday. A host of close to 40 speakers from around the world including the likes of Sir Martin Sorrell, innovation expert Tim Reid, Amitabh Bachchan, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Unilever CEO Paul Polman, Boston Consulting Group Chairman - Hans Paul Burkner, Skype co-creator - Jonas Kjellberg, Nandan Nilekan, Alibaba CEO - Chris Tung would grace the three day convention.

Punit Goenka, President at the India chapter of IAA opened the first session of the convention followed by Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman and World President of the International Advertising Association (IAA) Global who introduced the theme of the convention ‘Brand Dharma’ and discussed the journey of advertising and the need to protect freedom of commercial speech in the present times.

Goenka, in his opening address, stressed on the ‘Brand Dharma’ theme of the World Congress as the basic principle a brand should follow, to connect with its customers and society at large. He said “what matters at the end of the day is the deep connect a brand establishes with the audience and the language, dialects in which the brand speaks with the audience. Also, how purely and honestly does the brand believe in the culture and value system of the audience."

Advocating self-regulation in advertising, Swamy broke down the to-dos of IAA for the convention. “We at the IAA are constantly trying to update and upgrade according to the needs of the time. We are ready to provide professional development for people needing to update their knowledge. We are looking at nurturing exposing young talent to best in class curriculum that prepares them for tomorrow. We want to inspire people to take action on societal issues and solve business challenges and promote the relevance of advertising as the engine of economic growth,” said Swamy.

Elaborating on self-regulation Swamy said, “IAA would step in and promote the law makers more concrete proposals for self-regulation based on wider consultation in the industry. IAA would also present a case that the interest of the consumer is better served with certain safeguards on data piracy, rather than stringent regulations.”

However, it was actor Amitabh Bachchan, who stole the show with his presentation of the theme of the convention Brand Dharma in the inaugural session. “I am the face of close to 24 brands and while I cannot prevent them from existing in the market I do not advertise alcohol or tobacco-that is dharma for me. Dharma of a brand is to ideate, develop a vision, and formulate a policy and code of conduct and know that there are only two ways to go about-grow or perish. Existence of competition has acted in favour of the consumers because that has led to continual improvement of a product,” said Bachchan.

Expressing his joy about the growth of indigenous brands Bachchan explained his perspective on the brands he promotes. “When I say kuch din toh guzaro Gujarat mein or do boond zindagi ke, I don’t sell Gujarat or polio prevention dosage. The brand here is social justice. The product here performs what its label claim - that is the kind of brand dharma I believe in,” added Bachchan.

Engaging the convention attendees in a quick meditation session Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said the society is moving into a whole new era where people do not observe what they preach. “People making video games do not want their children to play it. But that shouldn’t be the case. The universal ethics to operate in the market is very simple to follow. What you do not want your vendors to do to you do not do it to your customers,” he said.

IAA is a globally-focused integrated advertising trade association with membership representing advertising agencies and the media. The IAA comprises corporate members, organizational members, educational affiliates, as well as 56 Chapters with individual members and young professionals from 76 countries including the top 10 economies in the world. lAA is 80 years’ old and is headquartered in New York.

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The Indian Premier League (IPL), since its inception, has been a platform for brands to showcase their creative side. It is the Super Bowl of India where brands can leverage a lot from the sporting event.

In terms of advertising opportunities, Super Bowl has only a day whereas the IPL lasts for a month, giving brands the power to attract their target audience with catchy ads and incite brand recall. IPL also captures a pan-India audience and so the broadcasters are backed with heavy media spends by ad agencies and brands.

During the last IPL, Star India earned around Rs 3,000 crore. Nearly Rs 1,800 crore is estimated to have come from television and digital advertising. Needless to say it’s the season for brands to push creative boundaries with their ad communication so that it hits the nail just right.

Exchange4media spoke to ad agencies who worked on last year’s much talked-about IPL ad campaigns.

Mullen Lowe Lintas, the creative agency that created the Swiggy ‘gulab jamun’ ad, not only captured the audience’s attention but there was a call to action from consumers as well. Sagar Kapoor, CCO, Lowe Lintas, said, “IPL is a massive opportunity for brands and a challenge for creative agencies to stand out in the flood of brands advertising at the same time. During IPL, the shorter ad format becomes a necessity and therefore combining creativity with brevity becomes challenging. IPL is incredible for the kind of content it generates from brands, teams and the audience themselves. This generation, known for using ‘ad-blockers’, actually looks forward to ads showcased during the IPL. It stands as the most exciting platform to showcase a brand’s communication. IPL is the Super Bowl of India and may grow to become perhaps more than that.”

Such was the draw of the Swiggy ad that the brand witnessed a 25 per cent growth in orders during IPL and there was an over 10-fold increase in consumers doing a search on the platform to order gulab jamun. A case study has proven that if a story is told well, it’s sure to sell.

Some ads interestingly encompass the spirit of the game in the creative communication. It is no cakewalk for a creative work to shine through IPL, said Agnello Dias, Chairman and Co-Founder of Taproot Dentsu India. “IPL is both a challenge and an opportunity for advertising in a creative way. The slots are limited and stories simply have to be told in 30 seconds or less. This brings out sharply honed, pinpoint communication strategies as anything more will result in a lesser impact. The truth is, if you can break through public consciousness in the IPL, you’ve got it made because practically the whole country is watching at the same time.”

One brand that has made its presence felt during IPL since its inception is Vodafone. Speaking about how hitting creative sixers has helped brand Vodafone and Ogilvy, Kiran Anthony, Creative Director, Ogilvy said, “Through Vodafone’s Zoozoos, the Zumi song, ‘Be Super’ and the ‘Asha-Bala’ campaigns, we have always focused on business tasks and managed to engage the customers in a memorable way. Due to the reach and visibility that IPL provides, these characters and series have been etched in the minds of the audience. Therefore, they are instantly attributed to Vodafone.”

Gayatri Sriram, Digital Creative Head, FCB Ulka says some of the more creative work can be seen coming out of not the official spenders, but the brands that choose to ambush their competitors. “Vodafone’s ‘unofficial sponsor of fans’ is a good example of this. For over a decade now, IPL has been the battleground for brands, marketers and advertisers to capitalise on the colossal reach. But that’s where the similarities end, in my opinion. If you have the money, IPL is seen as a safe way to achieve some numbers. We don’t look at the event as a playground of disruptive, standard setting ideas,” she said.

It isn’t a smooth sailing job to capture the audience’s attention in 30 seconds. The brands that do their best to send across their campaign’s message within that timeframe instil brand recall and call to action for the consumers.

In 2018, ad campaigns did their best to leverage from the sporting extravaganza. Let’s see what happens during Vivo IPL 2019, which starts on March 23. Here’s hoping that the work we witness this year pushes the envelope for innovation and leaves viewers ‘clean-bowled’.

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ACC, the legendary cement brand, part of the Lafarge Holcim group, is ready to launch its new communication campaign. The campaign, which has legs across media, targets the individual home builder who plans to construct his own home.

Talking about the new campaign, Neeraj Akhoury, Managing Director & CEO, ACC Limited says, “We want to build a new ACC every day and add more cement to our 82 years of trust building. Home building is a celebration of a lifetime; a celebration of a home-builder’s achievements. Our message will resonate far beyond the intended audience and appeal to multiple generations”.

Piyush Pandey, Chief Creative Officer Worldwide, The Ogilvy Group shares his view on the campaign, “Cement is a low involvement category. Even though it is a key ingredient in the making of a building, it remains ‘invisible’ to the end user. I think the campaign created by 82.5 Communications overcomes this problem by helping the consumer to engage with the ACC brand in an interesting way.”

Ashish Prasad, Chief Marketing Officer & Head - New Products & Services said, "ACC as a brand, has always owned equity and trust in the market. Our brand philosophy is to inspire people to do extraordinary things. Our new campaign communicates that we will be keen partners on their journey towards “Karein Kuch Kamaal”. In this context, it is imperative to engage with a new generation of individual home builders."

The campaign, titled ‘Karein Kuch Kamaal’, has taken a fresh look at the category.

Sumanto Chattopadhyay, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, 82.5 Communications said, “Building your own home is a dream come true. But sometimes consumers see the actual process of home building as a challenge. In the new ACC campaign, we have relooked at home-building as a beautiful and joyful process. We roped in international director Anders Forsman to bring a new aesthetic to cement and concrete and to give a magical touch to the portrayal of the construction process.”

“Through this campaign, ACC wants to share the euphoria of building a house with every Indian home builder. The men in red are the personification of this sentiment”, adds Mayur Varma, Executive Creative Director & Creative Head - Mumbai and Kolkata.

ACC 'Karein Kuch Kamaal' campaign

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Prem Shankar Jha, Deputy Commissioner of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), will be one of the key speakers at the upcoming ninth edition of OOH Conference and Neon Awards. Jha will be speaking on the theme of ‘Significance of OOH in Urban Development’. The event will be held at the Leela Ambience, Gurugram on March 8, 2019.

In his role as Deputy Commissioner of SDMC, Jha heads the advertising department and has been playing an important role in ushering in a standard outdoor advertising policy in the zone under his jurisdiction. Along with various departments such as Remunerative Project Cell, Parking Cell as well as works as Officer on Special Duty, Engineering, under his leadership, SDMC has managed to increase its advertisement revenue.

An engineering graduate who is also an alumnus of IIM Lucknow, Jha has also worked with NTPIC and Indian railways. Among his various interests, he has also pursued freelance writing and is also a noted author with several books to his credit, including books on life skills, decision making, International Relations, and econometrics.

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DSP Mutual Fund has launched a video campaign called ‘Dramayana’ - a series of irreverent and whacky videos that use a generous dollop of humor-laced drama to help showcase its tax saving product - DSP Tax Saver Fund

This series takes a look into the life and adventures of an angry old father brimming with rage. Appa is troubled by his son Arun in more ways than one. When all of Arun's problems can be solved simply by making some good decisions, why would he not get smarter and make Appa proud? This pandemoniacal series covers this madhouse father-son duo who can show people how to make their lives better.

Every year around January, salaried professionals start evaluating tax saving investment options under Section 80C of the Indian IT Act, 1961. Many financial brands start pushing their tax saving options to woo these customers. However, the constant hammering from across categories leaves the customer with mixed messages, or at best, variants of the same two messages- save tax and grow wealth. This makes it difficult for the viewer to judge what could work better for them. DSP therefore decided to stay away from the traditional routes of messaging for this product category and collaborated with 101 India to conceptualize ‘Dramayana’, a novel template that helps tell different stories easily, effortlessly, and very quickly.

Talking about the campaign, Aditi Kothari, Director & Head - Sales, Marketing and e- Business, DSP Mutual Fund, says, “Our idea was to create a property which communicates our product and connects to the audience with humour. We have always been keen to make finance fun and our team has done something extremely creative to execute on that mandate and will continue to do so. When brands try to be too functional, it can come across as boring and repetitive to investors. But we chose a route which will hopefully be more memorable in the minds of tax savers! Who says mutual funds have to be boring?”

Abhik Sanyal, Head - Consumer Marketing, DSP Mutual Fund, says, “We kept it simple: Let’s try telling stories the way viewers would enjoy it more- mostly unbranded, organic and conversational. At a time when internet memes have taken over everyone’s timelines, quirkiness becomes a must to engage viewers. So instead of focusing only on pushing our product, we chose to have fun. In fact, our brief in bold was to not create typical BFSI ads! We had no formulaic scripts, invented a new language and built in our own hat tip to new-world irreverence. ‘Dramayana’ will also help supplement our out-of-home promotions for our tax saver fund, as part of our ‘Axe Your Tax’ campaign.”

Cyrus Oshidar, MD and CCO, 101India, adds , “Engaging storytelling has always been the core of all branded initiatives we undertake at 101. The challenge of taking a financial brand where the product is technical and weaving their communication with humour is what made this so much fun for us. It’s always nice to see brands use humour to get their message across and in my opinion the nature of the series could give it a long run across social media.”

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